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First Football Rivalries: Fulham v Chelsea |
While Fulham fans would probably see Chelsea as their main rivals, followed by West London’s QPR and Brentford, Chelsea would equally cite Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in North London - and Manchester United - as well as Fulham.
The rivalry between the clubs is based on geographical proximity rather than any political, social or religious emnity. Though Craven Cottage and Stamford Bridge are less than a mile and a half apart, it hasn’t usually been a successful fixture for Fulham into whose London Borough – Hammersmith and Fulham – Chelsea crashed in 1905.
Due to the teams often playing in different leagues, there have been less meetings on the pitch than befits their early origins; there have also been long periods when no derby games at all between the two have taken place.
Fulham are one of the oldest football clubs in the south of England and the oldest professional club in London. They were originally formed in 1879 – the same year that Zulu wars were raging in southern Africa and Joseph Swan first demonstrated light in a bulb powered by electricity. The club was named Fulham St Andrew's Church Sunday School F.C. by Church of England worshippers at St Andrew's, Fulham Fields on Star Road, West Kensington.
Initially favouring cricket over football, the club shortened its name to Fulham FC in December 1888 and went on to win the West London League at their first attempt in 1893, before moving to Craven Cottage in 1896. After turning professional in 1898 (the third London club to do so after Royal Arsenal in 1891 and Millwall in 1893) they went on to win consecutive Southern League triumphs in 1905-06 and 1906-07 before joining the Football League’s Second Division in 1907.
Chelsea were formed in 1905 by property developers ‘JT’ and ‘Gus’ Mears. Initially interested in developing the London Athletic Club site at Stamford Bridge – most likely into a coal and goods yard for the Great Western Railway – the Mears brothers decided instead to develop the stadium, resulting in a massive official capacity of 100,000.
It was at this point that the two clubs’ paths first crossed. Fulham’s Chairman Henry Norris was also a property developer and self-made man who had overseen Fulham’s progress thus far. Fulham’s success on the field had alerted Gus Mears to the sporting and commercial possibilities offered by football’s rising popularity in London. He approached Norris with a view to Fulham leasing Stamford Bridge for an annual rent of £1,500.
Norris wasn’t prepared to pay such a figure and concentrated his efforts instead on developing Craven Cottage into one of the best football stadiums in the country at that time. He later invested in and became Chairman of another London club – Woolwich Arsenal – and was instrumental in their move to Highbury in North London in 1913.
Had Norris agreed to pay Mears’ price, the Chelsea club would never have existed. In the event, Mears now set about forming a new club to play at Stamford Bridge and the Pensioners of Fulham Broadway officially came into being following a meeting at The Sun pub opposite Stamford Bridge on 10th March 1905. In the May of that year, they were elected to the Second Division of the Football League without having yet played a match – two years before Fulham, who had been playing football in the capital for 26 years. If Chelsea are sometimes accused of having huge financial influence in football today, it isn’t a new development – it was right there at the very beginnings of the club’s existence.
The club would be known as Chelsea FC but, as The Fulham Chronicle witheringly pointed out at the time, Stamford Bridge is actually located in Fulham, and the club would never actually play in Chelsea:
Chelsea finished third in their first season in the Football League and second in 1907, thus being promoted to the First Division. Fulham finished fourth in their first Second Division season and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup (in which they were beaten 6.0 by Newcastle United). After conceding 70 goals in 1909-10 Chelsea were relegated and so faced their near neighbours for the first time - in the Second Division – on 3rd December 1910. More than 30,000 packed into Craven Cottage to witness a goal by Smith being the only goal of the game as Fulham won 1.0.
The sides met at Stamford Bridge for the first time on 8th April 1911. Chelsea got their revenge and their first win over Fulham with a 2.0 victory. Losing their remaining league games to Chelsea before the outbreak of World War One, The Cottagers lost to Chelsea again on 26th April 1919 – 3.0 – at Arsenal’s newly-reopened Highbury Ground in the final of the London Victory Cup (a trophy Chelsea retain to this day).
During wartime the Football League had no jurisdiction over professional football which was broken down into regions. Clubs in the capital and south-east formed the London Combination whose committee created this small competition. The final – in which the cup was presented to the Chelsea captain by Arsenal chairman Henry Norris’s wife Edith – effectively marked the end of Great War restrictions.
A huge crowd of more than 52,000 saw the two sides meet for the first time in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on 19th February 1936. The match finished 0.0 but Fulham won the replay at Craven Cottage five days later 3.2 on their way to another semi-final defeat; this time 2.1 to Sheffield United at Molineux.
Chelsea would beat Fulham in the FA Cup for the first time on 21st January 1939 – 3.0 – as the country drifted into war once again. The inter-war matches between the two clubs probably represent the peak of their historical rivalry.
The sides met in the FA Cup again in 1951 with Fulham again prevailing at Craven Cottage in a replay after a 1.1 draw in the first game.
Back in the league, Fulham were Second Division champions in 1949 and thus promoted to the First Division for the first time in their history. They faced Chelsea for the first time in the top tier on 17th September 1949 in front of more than 45,000 at Craven Cottage who witnessed a 1.1. draw. The return match at Stamford Bridge also ended in a draw – 0.0 – before Chelsea won their first top-flight match against Fulham on 9th December 1950, 2.0, including one from teenager Bobby Smith who would make such an impact at Tottenham Hotspur some ten years later.
Fulham would also have to wait until 1960 – the 17th September to be precise – for their first top tier win over Chelsea: a 3.2 victory at Craven Cottage. They had to wait a further four years for their first Division One win at Stamford Bridge, finally beating Tommy Docherty’s team there, 2.1, for their first ever league win at Chelsea.
In 1975, after Fulham had finally reached the FA Cup Final (though losing 2.0 to West Ham United) they faced Chelsea in the Anglo-Scottish Cup – a new summer tournament for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues. Its predecessor – the Texaco Cup - was set up for sides in England, Scotland and also Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. Fulham won the game 1.0, and also won one and drew the other match against Chelsea in the same competition in the 1970s before its demise in 1981. Fulham fans can thus say that their team remains unbeaten against Chelsea in the Anglo-Scottish Cup.
It wasn’t until 1985 before the sides met in the League Cup. After a 1.1 Third Round draw at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea won 1.0 at Craven Cottage on 6th November with a goal from Kerry Dixon.
The fortunes of these two clubs have followed markedly different paths with Chelsea generally in the ascendancy pretty much since Henry Norris turned Gus Mears down more than a hundred years ago. However, the West London derby matches are as keenly fought today as they were back in Edwardian times.
Much of the research for this article was done for our book – First Football Histories: The Chelsea FC Story
The rivalry between the clubs is based on geographical proximity rather than any political, social or religious emnity. Though Craven Cottage and Stamford Bridge are less than a mile and a half apart, it hasn’t usually been a successful fixture for Fulham into whose London Borough – Hammersmith and Fulham – Chelsea crashed in 1905.
Due to the teams often playing in different leagues, there have been less meetings on the pitch than befits their early origins; there have also been long periods when no derby games at all between the two have taken place.
Fulham are one of the oldest football clubs in the south of England and the oldest professional club in London. They were originally formed in 1879 – the same year that Zulu wars were raging in southern Africa and Joseph Swan first demonstrated light in a bulb powered by electricity. The club was named Fulham St Andrew's Church Sunday School F.C. by Church of England worshippers at St Andrew's, Fulham Fields on Star Road, West Kensington.
Initially favouring cricket over football, the club shortened its name to Fulham FC in December 1888 and went on to win the West London League at their first attempt in 1893, before moving to Craven Cottage in 1896. After turning professional in 1898 (the third London club to do so after Royal Arsenal in 1891 and Millwall in 1893) they went on to win consecutive Southern League triumphs in 1905-06 and 1906-07 before joining the Football League’s Second Division in 1907.
Chelsea were formed in 1905 by property developers ‘JT’ and ‘Gus’ Mears. Initially interested in developing the London Athletic Club site at Stamford Bridge – most likely into a coal and goods yard for the Great Western Railway – the Mears brothers decided instead to develop the stadium, resulting in a massive official capacity of 100,000.
It was at this point that the two clubs’ paths first crossed. Fulham’s Chairman Henry Norris was also a property developer and self-made man who had overseen Fulham’s progress thus far. Fulham’s success on the field had alerted Gus Mears to the sporting and commercial possibilities offered by football’s rising popularity in London. He approached Norris with a view to Fulham leasing Stamford Bridge for an annual rent of £1,500.
Norris wasn’t prepared to pay such a figure and concentrated his efforts instead on developing Craven Cottage into one of the best football stadiums in the country at that time. He later invested in and became Chairman of another London club – Woolwich Arsenal – and was instrumental in their move to Highbury in North London in 1913.
Had Norris agreed to pay Mears’ price, the Chelsea club would never have existed. In the event, Mears now set about forming a new club to play at Stamford Bridge and the Pensioners of Fulham Broadway officially came into being following a meeting at The Sun pub opposite Stamford Bridge on 10th March 1905. In the May of that year, they were elected to the Second Division of the Football League without having yet played a match – two years before Fulham, who had been playing football in the capital for 26 years. If Chelsea are sometimes accused of having huge financial influence in football today, it isn’t a new development – it was right there at the very beginnings of the club’s existence.
The club would be known as Chelsea FC but, as The Fulham Chronicle witheringly pointed out at the time, Stamford Bridge is actually located in Fulham, and the club would never actually play in Chelsea:
Chelsea finished third in their first season in the Football League and second in 1907, thus being promoted to the First Division. Fulham finished fourth in their first Second Division season and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup (in which they were beaten 6.0 by Newcastle United). After conceding 70 goals in 1909-10 Chelsea were relegated and so faced their near neighbours for the first time - in the Second Division – on 3rd December 1910. More than 30,000 packed into Craven Cottage to witness a goal by Smith being the only goal of the game as Fulham won 1.0.
The sides met at Stamford Bridge for the first time on 8th April 1911. Chelsea got their revenge and their first win over Fulham with a 2.0 victory. Losing their remaining league games to Chelsea before the outbreak of World War One, The Cottagers lost to Chelsea again on 26th April 1919 – 3.0 – at Arsenal’s newly-reopened Highbury Ground in the final of the London Victory Cup (a trophy Chelsea retain to this day).
During wartime the Football League had no jurisdiction over professional football which was broken down into regions. Clubs in the capital and south-east formed the London Combination whose committee created this small competition. The final – in which the cup was presented to the Chelsea captain by Arsenal chairman Henry Norris’s wife Edith – effectively marked the end of Great War restrictions.
A huge crowd of more than 52,000 saw the two sides meet for the first time in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on 19th February 1936. The match finished 0.0 but Fulham won the replay at Craven Cottage five days later 3.2 on their way to another semi-final defeat; this time 2.1 to Sheffield United at Molineux.
Chelsea would beat Fulham in the FA Cup for the first time on 21st January 1939 – 3.0 – as the country drifted into war once again. The inter-war matches between the two clubs probably represent the peak of their historical rivalry.
The sides met in the FA Cup again in 1951 with Fulham again prevailing at Craven Cottage in a replay after a 1.1 draw in the first game.
Back in the league, Fulham were Second Division champions in 1949 and thus promoted to the First Division for the first time in their history. They faced Chelsea for the first time in the top tier on 17th September 1949 in front of more than 45,000 at Craven Cottage who witnessed a 1.1. draw. The return match at Stamford Bridge also ended in a draw – 0.0 – before Chelsea won their first top-flight match against Fulham on 9th December 1950, 2.0, including one from teenager Bobby Smith who would make such an impact at Tottenham Hotspur some ten years later.
Fulham would also have to wait until 1960 – the 17th September to be precise – for their first top tier win over Chelsea: a 3.2 victory at Craven Cottage. They had to wait a further four years for their first Division One win at Stamford Bridge, finally beating Tommy Docherty’s team there, 2.1, for their first ever league win at Chelsea.
In 1975, after Fulham had finally reached the FA Cup Final (though losing 2.0 to West Ham United) they faced Chelsea in the Anglo-Scottish Cup – a new summer tournament for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues. Its predecessor – the Texaco Cup - was set up for sides in England, Scotland and also Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. Fulham won the game 1.0, and also won one and drew the other match against Chelsea in the same competition in the 1970s before its demise in 1981. Fulham fans can thus say that their team remains unbeaten against Chelsea in the Anglo-Scottish Cup.
It wasn’t until 1985 before the sides met in the League Cup. After a 1.1 Third Round draw at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea won 1.0 at Craven Cottage on 6th November with a goal from Kerry Dixon.
The fortunes of these two clubs have followed markedly different paths with Chelsea generally in the ascendancy pretty much since Henry Norris turned Gus Mears down more than a hundred years ago. However, the West London derby matches are as keenly fought today as they were back in Edwardian times.
Much of the research for this article was done for our book – First Football Histories: The Chelsea FC Story
